Russians
'Russians '(Russian: Русские) are an East Slavic ethnic group who's bloodlines are native to Russia. There are also ethnic Russians living in neighboring countries such as Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Lithuania and Estonia. Russians are also called Ruthenians by other countries. Russians have a great and glorious history with their country. Russians can also refer to people living in Russia regardless of ethnicity or origin. Etymology and Origin Russians have a very diverse numbers of origins. Primarly of rivalling Indo-European tribes, such as Vikings, Kriviches, Buryats and other groups of tribes. Russians also have origins from Chinese and Mongol tribes who settled the area come to be known as Russia. The people who came to settle in what is now Russia, Belarus and Ukraine are known as the Slavs. They are the in the East Slavic subsection of the Slavic race. The East Slavs formed the Kievan Rus state. This was a unified banner of the East Slavs. The medieval state of Kievan Rus, is also known as Kievan Russia. This empire was governed from Kiev. The Slavs in what is now Belarus and Ukraine formed thier own cultures and languages and became ethnic regions within the Russian Empire. They became the Belorussians and Ukrainians. The ethnic Russians today that make up 80% of Russia's population are the Slavic people in the area. Russians today also contain some German and Jewish origin. During the 1920s, the Russians started the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or the USSR/Soviet Union. They overthrew monarchy in Russia in the Russian Revolution led by Vladimir Lenin. The Russians fought in both World War I and World War II against Germany. By Country Ethnic Russians make up the 80% majority in Russia. They are the native Slavic peoples who settled into what is now Russia. There are also large Russian communities in countries that were former Russian Imperial and Soviet territory. Countries like Belarus and Ukraine have significant Russian populations. Russians make up 17% of Ukraine's population. In Belarus, 8% of the population are ethnic Russians. Lithuania, Poland, Estonia, Romania and Latvia also have large populations of ethnic Russians. In the United States there are about 3.13 million Americans of Russian ancestry. Russian Language Russians speak the Russian language. Russian is a world major language and is spoken by 258,000,000 people either as a native or second language. Russian belongs to the East Slavic subfamily of the Slavic languages. Russian is spoken as the national languages of Russia and Belarus. An official language in Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan and Tajikistan. Which are former Soviet states. Russian is spoken as a minority language in Ukraine, China and Uzbekistan. Russian is also spoken as a minority by the ethnic Russians living around former Warsaw Pact territory. Ukrainian, Belarussian and Rusyn are related languages to Russian. They also belong in the East Slavic family of languages. They started out as dialects of the Old East Slavic language and eventually evolved into modern day Russian, Ukrainian, Belarussian and Rusyn languages. Russia is written in the Cryllic alphabet. The Cryllic scipt itself had been a different dialect-script of Greek. Perfected by St. Cryill and Methodius which became Russia and many other Slavic empires' official scripts. Religion and Architecture Since Russian culture is based off of East Slavic culture, most Russians are followers of the Eastern Orthodox religion. The Russians follow the Russian Orthodox Church. There are also a number of atheists, Muslims and Buddhists. Islam is Russia's second most practiced religion from Orthodox Christianity. The Muslims in Russia are the non-Slavic peopels of the country such as the Chechens. Russian architecture is based off of its religion and culture, Eastern Orthodox. Russian style churches are built with the onion-style domes. St. Basil's Catheral in Moscow is a perfect example. This cathedral is one of the best examples of Russian architecture and is a world UNESCO site. St. Basil's cathedral contains colorful onion domes which reflects Russia's glorious emperial history and is one of the world's most famous cathedrals. There are a few mosques in Russia built by the Chechens and other Russians of Turk ethnicity. There are Buddhists in Russia who are the Mongols.